April’s theme was ‘Blossom and Bloom’ reflecting the abundance of spring flowers that are now all around. We celebrated ‘National Gardening’ week, the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, St. George’s Day, World Voice Day and on the 21st our Queen’s 90th birthday.
On Friday 1st April residents learnt about the origins of April Fool’s day that dates back to Roman times, and enjoyed remembering some of the most famous April Fool’s pranks in recent years including the ‘spaghetti trees!’ Some of the residents enjoyed a trip to Fleet town centre, where they enjoyed a look round the shops before having coffee, tea and delicious cake.
Our monthly ‘Singing for the Brain’ session on Wednesday 6th included some spring themed songs and lots of action songs, which the residents particularly enjoyed. As usual, residents from Woodlands and Hill Brow also joined in the event.
On Friday 15th a group of residents enjoyed a trip to Badshot Lea Garden Centre. Despite a very showery day, residents enjoyed the colourful spectacle of all the spring plants and shrubs on display undercover, especially some stunning orchids that were to be seen. As always they enjoyed seeing the fish and small animals in the Pet Centre. Afterwards they enjoyed tea, coffee and biscuits in the restaurant.
This afternoon in celebration of ‘World Voice Day’ residents celebrated the art of oratory with reminiscence of famous speeches such as’ We shall fight them on the beaches…’ by Winston Churchill. Some residents recited some of the historic words too giving very creditable imitations of the famous man himself! Afterwards residents enjoyed a Friday afternoon tea party with some lively music from the Swinging Sixties, as well as celebrating a resident’s birthday.
On Tuesday 19th, ahead of the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare’s death , residents enjoyed listening to a couple of his best known sonnets, followed by an interesting quiz all about his life. The afternoon ended with residents enjoying remembering many of Shakespeare’s best known proverbs.
On Friday 22nd April, in the morning, we had a trip to our residents’ favourite local The Tweseldown Pub. They enjoyed a lovely sunny morning in the pub, meeting up with other residents from our sister homes Woodlands and Hill Brow, and enjoying a good chat over a nice cool drink.
On 29th April a group of no less than 8 residents enjoyed a trip to see the lovely Bluebells in full bloom in the woods in the village of Ellisfield. The weather was unpredictable as it often is in April, with rain at times threatening, but residents were able to enjoy the spectacle from the comfort of the minibus. They also enjoyed an impromptu picnic of tea, coffee and biscuits before returning home for lunch.
